Written by Sandy / Translated by Jun
While China and other parts of the world were social distancing and spending more time at home, we caught more glimpses of blue skies. Pollution levels have gone down temporarily due to drop in manufacturing and transportation. While we generally focus on factories and cars as culprits for pollution, there is another huge contributor to pollution and other environmental issues that have not been heavily
discussed about⎯cruise ships.
当全世界都在停工隔离时，我们突然发现天变蓝了。污染也因为减产和交通的停滞而降低了。工厂和汽车固然是污染的重头，另一个环境危机的制造者也不容忽视-游轮。
Balancing the Benefits and Downsides
如何平衡优缺点
The challenging question has always been, how do countries strike a balance
for the well-being of their people, environment and economy?
The tourism cruise ships bring to transitioning economies are critical to their growth. As
visitors arrive, they spend on the nearby souvenir shops and restaurants, supporting the
local businesses. Jobs are created as the tourism traffic opens up opportunities for new
services. Regions that are limited in other resources can leverage their unique traditions,
cultures and landscape to bring in money for the local community.
每个国家都面临的挑战是如何在人民的福祉，环境，和经济中找到平衡。游轮为发展中国家带来的旅游业增长很可观。乘客们下船后会去纪念品店，饭店，以及其他的店，带来更多就业机会。一些其它资源稀缺的地区可以利用他们独特的传统文化以及自然风貌来创收。
But there are some devastating environmental impacts. Like Southampton in the UK, locals have inevitably been suffering from poor health due to high pollution levels, contributed by the ships docking in the nearby waters. Maritime fuels from cruise ships have also not been as thoroughly researched as automotive fuels for their health implications. In addition, surrounding ocean health may also suffer due to plastic waste finding its way into the water and other effects from overtourism.
当然这也会带来负面的环境影响。以英国的南安普顿为例，停在附近的游轮所带来的污染严重影响居民的健康。游轮用的燃油对人健康的影响并没有像汽车汽油那样被大量研究。同时船上的塑料垃圾和过度旅游也对周围的海洋不好。
Harmful Pollutants
有害污染物
German environment group Nabu estimates that for the same travel distance, one medium cruise ship emits as many pollutants as five million cars. With ships belching out about 3,500 times more sulphur dioxide than cars, a person on a seven-day cruise ship is estimated to emit the same amount as 18 days on land. Generally, these ships use diesel engines that produces nitrogen oxide emissions, known to be linked to respiratory diseases and possibly lung cancer.
德国环保组织Nabu估计在同样的距离内，一只中型的游轮所释放的污染物相当于500万辆汽车。因为一只船所排放的二氧化硫是汽车的3500倍，一个人在船上待七天所排放的二氧化硫相当于在陆上待十八天。一般来说，游轮使用的是柴油机，所以会产生一氧化氮，有可能导致呼吸系统疾病和肺癌。
Especially going across different regions that have varying standards for air pollutants,
cruise ships have been slipping through many loopholes for air quality control. The
International Maritime Organization (IMO) have finally started to introduce new measures, where in 2020, vessels will be made to switch to cleaner fuel with lower sulfur content.
因为游轮在各个国家间穿梭，每个国家的排污标准也不一样，这就造成对游轮空气质量管制的漏洞。国际海洋组织（IMO）推出的新办法要求从2020年起，所有游轮必须用硫含量更低的清洁油。
What else is being done?
还有什么措施？
Alternative power sources are being explored by various top cruise ship companies. Carnival Corporation, the world’s largest cruise company, has been trying LNG-powered ships in order to also further its goals of reducing its environmental footprint through 2020.
一些邮轮公司也在探索其他能源。Carnival公司，全球最大的游轮公司，在一部分游轮上用液态天然气，以在2020年前降低其环境足迹。
A challenge on and off the boat, single-use plastics are slowly being addressed aboard cruise ships. Oceania Cruises partnered with Vero Water to introduce more environmentally friendly water distillation and reusable bottles starting in 2019. Other cruise lines are doing similar projects in attempt to eliminate single-use plastics or replace with more recycle- friendly alternatives.
一次性塑料作为全世界的难题，也在游轮上被慢慢重视。Oceania公司与Vero Water在2019年合作推出了更环保的水过滤以及多次使用水瓶。其他的邮轮公司也在尝试取代一次性塑料，或者用更容易回收的材料。
In acknowledgement of overtourism, both Carnival and Royal Caribbean are communicating more with the local communities to understand the impact of cruise tourism. They hope to try controlling number of visitors and introduce more tours certified by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council.
意识到过度旅游的危害，Carnival和Royal Caribbean公司会与当地沟通，以理解过度旅游带来的影响。他们希望可以控制旅客的数量，同时提供更多全球可持续旅游委员会认证的线路。
Environmental impact will continue to be an issue that we should all be aware of. Just as the world is transitioning to a “new normal”, the cruise ship industry should prioritize how they can adjust business models to continue to be more environmentally friendly.
For us vacationers, we can do our part, starting by keeping ourselves aware of and informed about our own environmental footprints.
当全世界都在过渡到“新常态”时，游轮行业也应该重视其商业模型向环保的变革。我们作为游客，也要尽到我们的责任，仔细研究我们自己的环境足迹。
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